facebookexperimental/recoil

★ 19,478JavaScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5StaleLicenseSetup · easy

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Recoil))
    What it does
      Manages React state
      Reduces re-renders
      Avoids prop drilling
    How it works
      Atoms store data
      Components subscribe
      Selective updates
    Use cases
      Complex shared state
      Large React apps
      Performance optimization
    Tech stack
      JavaScript
      React
      npm package
    When to use
      Redux too heavy
      Props drilling pain
      Experimental features

mindmap root((Recoil)) What it does Manages React state Reduces re-renders Avoids prop drilling How it works Atoms store data Components subscribe Selective updates Use cases Complex shared state Large React apps Performance optimization Tech stack JavaScript React npm package When to use Redux too heavy Props drilling pain Experimental features

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Manage user authentication state and logged-in user data across a large React app without prop drilling.

USE CASE 2

Build a shopping cart that updates only the cart component and checkout button when items change, not the entire page.

USE CASE 3

Share form state (like selected filters or search input) across multiple independent components without Redux boilerplate.

Tech stack

JavaScriptReactnpm

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Use freely for any purpose including commercial, as long as you keep the copyright notice.

In plain English

Recoil is an experimental state management library for React apps, created by Facebook. In a React application, "state" refers to data that determines what the user sees, things like whether a user is logged in, items in a shopping cart, or which tab is active. As apps grow large, sharing and syncing this data across many components becomes painful with React's built-in tools alone. Recoil offers a different approach: you break your state into small, independent pieces called atoms, and components subscribe only to the pieces they care about. This means only the parts of the app that actually need to update will re-render, which keeps performance smooth. The library is described as experimental and is designed to work with the newest React features. It is installed as an npm package and used inside JavaScript React projects. You would reach for Recoil when your React app has complex shared state that is awkward to manage through prop-drilling (passing data down through many layers of components) or existing tools like Redux feel too heavyweight for your needs.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Show me how to set up Recoil atoms and selectors in a React app to manage a user's login state and preferences.

Prompt 2

How do I use Recoil to manage a shopping cart so that adding an item only re-renders the cart component, not the whole page?

Prompt 3

Give me a working example of a Recoil atom for a todo list and a component that subscribes to it.

Prompt 4

What's the difference between using Recoil atoms versus Redux for managing state in a medium-sized React app?

Open on GitHub → Explain another repo

Generated 2026-05-18 · Model: sonnet-4-6 · Verify against the repo before relying on details.